Air-conditioning apparatus



Jan. 13, 1931. KELLEY 1,789,141

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 12, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Jan. 13, 1931. G. F. KELLEY 1,789,141

AIR CONDIT I ONI NG APPARATUS ATTORNEY Jan. 13, 1931. G KELLEY 1,789,141

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed F'eb. 12.,1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY GFZ e Zefi NVENTorq Jan. 13; 1931.

G. F. KELLEY AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Fi led Feb 12, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR' BY W926 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 13, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE GUY F. KELLEY, OF BEAUMONT, CALIFORNIA Amconmrmnma' serene-r115 Application filed February 12, mo. Serial no. 427,889.

- This invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus, the general object of the invention being to provide means for washing This invent'on also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the severa parts, to] be hereinafter fully described, illustratedgin the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention.

Figure2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure '1.

Figure 3 is a section online 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail view of a baflie plate.

Figure 5 is asectional view through one of the exhaust members.

Figure 6 is a" section on line 6-6 of F igure 5.

In these drawings, the numeral 1 indicates acylinder supported by the frame 2 and having its inlet end open and its'othe'r end closed. The open end has an inwardly extend ng flange 3 which prevents water from flowing a; from this end. A fan 4 and'its motor 5 are supported by a frame 6 with the'fan fitting in the opening formed by the flange 3 so that the fan will force air into the cylinder. The

space between the flangeand the ring which 4 surrounds the fan is closed by'astrip 7 of canvas-or the like. This canvas jointiconfines the airandalso acts to =pr'eventthe fan contacting the cylinder, thuseIiminating noise .due to vibrations of the fan. and its" the conduits 10 which lead the air to the room or other point of use.

As the air passes through the cylinder, it

1s sdbjected to the action of a plurality of water sprays from the nozzles 11. These nozzles are arranged in two sets, one on each side of the center of the cylinder. The forward set of nozzles are arranged at the axis of the cylinder and the nozzles of the otherset are located above the axis, as shown in Figure 3. $0 The first two nozzles direct the spray into the stream of air in the direction of travel of the air, but all the other nozzles direct the spray against the stream of air. The nozzles are. horizontally arranged and are carried by elbows 12 on the vertical ipes 13 and the pi es 13 of each set of nozz es are connected with the horizontal pipe 14 in the lower part of the cylinder, the inner ends of the pipes 14 being connected with the lower ends of the pipes 15 which pass upwardly through the top of the cylinder where they are connected with the supply pipe 16 which is connected with the pum 17 driven from the motor 18.

The water om the sprays will drain from the cylinder through the holes 19 in'the bottom thereof, into the trou h 20 connected with the bottom of the cylin er and from this trough, the water will pass down the discharge pipe 21, which is detachably connect ed with the discharge of the trough, into a tank 22 placed under the cylinder. This tank is provided with a trough 23 to which the bottom of the tank slopes and the water must pass through a screen 24 before entering the trough 23. The inlet of the pump is connected with this trou h 23 by. the pipe 25. Thus the water is use over and over a am as the tank catches. the water draining rom the cylinder and the pump takes the water 9 from the tank 'andreturns it to the sprays.

The tank is providedwith ale'vel indicator 26, an overflow 27 and water can be supplied to the tank when desired through the supply pipe 28. A drain pipe 29, containing a valve 30, is connected with the discharge pipe of the pump so that the tank canbe emptied by the pump when desired. Parts of the cover of the tank are removable, as shown at 31.

The spray heads are of such construction as to form a fine mist or fog and the first two heads are arranged to direct the spray away from theinlet end of the cylinder so as to hot wet the fan. The heads throw the water about one foot before it strikes the walls of the cylinder and in order to prevent noise of the water striking the cylinder and to cool the water, I provide a-bafile arrangement for each head which consists of a strip 32 spaced from the c linder by blocks 33 of rubber and carrying t e fins 3 1, one of which'is shown in Figure 4. The fins extend horizontally from the circular strip and are-corrugated as shown in Figure 4, so as to guide the water to a more even distribution over their edges.

The extreme ends of the balfies are bolted to the cylinder with rubber insulated bolts and rubber washers passing through quarter inch holes drilled through the cylinder. The

fins commence seven inches from the extreme ends of the baflles, the fins are spaced three inches apart andfollow directly underneath each other until twelve fins are placed on each side of each bafile. The object of these fins is to .cool the sprayed water, for after the water" dri s down from one fin to the ,one beneath it untll it finally reaches the bottom of the cylinder, runs out one of the holes in thebottom of the cylinder into the trough underneath the cylinder, down the trough to the four inch diameter pipe which delivers the water back cylinder, the frames being closed by the covers 36 having transparent parts 37 By looking through the transparent portions, one can tell whetherorinot the sprays are functioning properly and by removing the covers, theparts can be adjusted'or cleaned. A lamp 38 is; located in the to 'partof the cylinder so as to illuminate the interior of thesame when the parts are to be inspected. l

i i .The conduits 10 discharge into itliel'oiitlet -or fan boxes 39, each of which pas'ses through a hole in the wall of the room: or

other place where the air is to be discharged. 4

A discharge fan 40'is placed in the discharge end of each box andthis end of the box is.

reduced in size to vproduce greater velocity and less back lash ori short circuit of the air'.

thrown out by the fan. .The fan is driven from the motor 41 supported .by the frame 42 in the box.. As the air-enters each box, it

passes through the baflles 43 which removes excessive moisture from the air. The bafiles are carried by two trays or slides 44, slidably supported in the box so that the trays can be ulled therefrom. The baffles are formed of -shaped strips vertically arranged,- with the strips at each side of the rear tray having their apexes pointing outwardly and those of the front tray pointing inwardly, as shown in Figure 5. The central space formed by the two inner strips of the rear tray is divided into two V-shaped passages by a rectangular member 45, and two such members 46 are placed at the center of the front tr'ay. Thus the air is first caused to flow toward the sides of the box as it strikes the rear portions of the baflles of the rear tray and then caused to flow toward the center of the box as it strikes the front portions of said bafiles. the baflles of the front tray cause the air to continue in the ..same direction and finally the front portions of the baflies of the front tray direct the air toward the sides of the box.

After passing the baflles, the air is acted on by the refrigerating coils 47. The coils in the boxes are arranged in series, as shown in Figures 2 and 6, with the inlet end of each set of coils arranged at the center, as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

The baflles dry and .control the direction of'the washed and cooled air passing through them, the refrigerant coil next cools the air to a lower temperature and at the same time removes any remaining small particles of moisture by forming this moisture into frost on the coils. The water caught by these bafiles, as well as the drip from the refrigerant coils finds a natural drain back into the water tank by way of first the ducts, then through the cooling cylinder and then into the watertank. The baflles can easily be rev "tothe next nearest fan box and the same treatment repeated, then on to the third and then the fourth fan boxes, each time repeat ing as in fan box number one. From the last fanbox, the coil pipe then returns the refrigerant over the shortest route to the compressor so that it may be re-cooledand again re-circulated.

When'the apparatus is used for heating purposes, the re rigeratingcoils are removed he small opening in the opposite side of -the fan box top, F rom' there it is run over ation by connecting the fan boxes into the air ducts near the cooling cylinder; There the boxes could accommodate the bafiles or dryer trays and also the cooling or heating coils with the same effectual results, satisfactory compensation could be obtained for discarding the four exhaust fans by increasing the size of the large fan placed at the rear of the cooling cylinder and thereby obtaining efliciency, as temperatures the same washing and dryin Well as the same hot or col and also the same velocity of air and the same number of cubic feet 'per minute of conditioned air Ornamental grilles could then be placed overopenings wherever the ducts directed the conditioned air to enter the room receiving the conditioned air.

From an operation of a plant constructed in accordance Withfihis invention and operated over a period of days during'a hot spell in southern California, the 'following'facts and figures are given The large inch fan at the rear of the cooling cylinder revolves 710 revolutionsper minute, displacing 7500 cubic feet of air er minute; this air is blown through the cooling cylinder in which are ten water sprays which spray 30 gallons of water per minute, the

same water-being used over and over again and by this process, the water rapidly lowers in temperature until it reaches and stays around 60 degrees. The air blown into the cylinder at 100 degrees above zero has been cooled by the water 30 degrees while passing through the cooling cylinder. The evaporation of water from the supply tank is but thirty gallons per ten hours. In other words, 30 gallons of-water, continuously pumped and repumped at the rate of 30 gallons per minute, cools the air passing through the cylinder 30 degrees, with the air velocity .being such that 7500 cubic feet of air per minute is cooled 30 degreeslower than when it enters the cooling cylinder and when the outside air entering the cylinder has a temperature greater than 100 degrees, thenthe cooling process lowers the air temperature passingthrough the cylinder to around degrees colder than when the air first entered the cylinder. This cooling of the air is accomplished without the aid of refrigeration or artificial coolin any kind other than water. I The cooled air is continually passing through the cooling cylinder at the rate of 7500 C. F. M. and'is blown into. the .room after first passing through ducts and then into exhaust fan boxes, from which fan boxes the air is exhausted into. the room at the rate of- 7500 C.'F. M. The degree of coolness of the air blown into the room for cooling purposes can be regulatedby adjusting the amount of water or the amount of air passing into and through the cooling cylinder. Before the washed and cooled air enters the fanbox'es, has to pass through baflle or dryer trays, which trays separate and 1 retain from the air any surplus or ov'er,v

amount of moisture retained by the cooled air up to this point. Should the outside air be warm and damp, causing excessrelative humidity to form in the room, artificially cooled, then the air passing into the fan boxes'is further dried by blowing over refrigerant coils, but with this system of washing and cooling the air, the refrigerant coils are seldom need- .ed to function for the purpose of more completely drying the cooled air and in case of refrigeration, the plant used is small. Not over a pound per hour ice machine is required for this purpose, although'other' plants of this nature require around five tons refrigeration per day inorder to wash, cool and dr 7500 C. F. M. which is the amount of air this sure createdby the large fan in the rearof {the coollng cylinder permits these four front exhaust fans to exhaust 7500C. F. M. when running full s eed. When'these four front fans'have their speed cut in half, they exhaust 5000 C. F. M. and when their current;

is entirel shut off, they still revolve at about one-thir speed from the air pressure delivered to them from the large fan in the rear of the cylinder and then the cooled air blown into the room beingcooled is at the rate of- 3750 C.- F. M., which gives three different volumes, of-air from the one coolingunit. Then again,the less air passing through er 'minuteJowers the temperature of the coo ed air to a greater extent and which can then be again corrected if necessary by turningofi one or more of the water sprays in the cooling cylinden. i

It is thought, from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of'the inventionwill be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts,

provided that such changes fall within the sco e of the appended claims.

hat I claim is Y 1 1. An apparatus of the class described comprising a cylinder, means for forcing air into one end of the cylinder, discharge means connected with the other end of the cylinder, such means including an exhaust fan, means for spraying water into the air current as it passes through thecylinder, means forusing the water ;over and over again and cooling. fins invthe cylinder for receiving the water sprayed from the spraymg means. I

2. An apparatus of the class described comprising a cylinder having one end open and its other end closed, a motor driven fan for forcing air into the open end, fanboxes in communication with the closed end, a motor driven fan in each box, water spray heads inthe cylinder for spraying the air current passing through the same, a tank for receiving "the water drainingffrom the cylinder, a motor driven pump for taking the water from the tank, and delivering it to the heads and cooling fins inthe cylinder against which the water from the heads strike.

3. An apparatus of the class described comprising a cylinder having one end open and its other end closed, a motor driven fan for forcing air into the open end, fan boxes in communication with the closed end, a

motor driven fan in each box, water spray heads in the cylinder for spraying the air current passing throu h the same, a tank for receiving the water inder, a motor driven pump for taking the water from the tank; and deliveringit to the heads, cooling fins in the cylinder against which the water from the heads strike and bafiies in the fan boxes in rear of the fans for removing surplus Water from the air.

4. An apparatus of the class described comprising a cylinder having one end open and its other end closed, a motor driven fan for forcing air into the open end, fan boxes in communication with the closed end, a motor driven fan in each box, water spray heads in the cylinder for spraying the air current passin through the same 'a tank for receiving t e water draimng fromthe cylinder, a mot-6r driven pump for taking the water from the tank and delivering it to the heads, cooling fins in the cylindenagainst which the water from the heads strike, bafiles in the fan boxes in rear of the fans for removing surplus water from the air and means in the fan boxes for changing the temperature of the air.

raining from the cy1--...

fmeamr the air, a discharge fan in each box, bafiles 1n each box, spray heads in the cylinder for spraying the air passing through the same, a

pump for forcing water to the heads, a tank for receivin the water draining from the cylinder an towhich the inlet of the pump is connected, fin supporting means in the cyllnderand spaced from the same, each of such means receiving the water from a head whereby noise of the spray water striking the cylinder is eliminated and the fins cool the water, the top of the cylinder having. 

